Beick-machine



UNITED STATES PAT Il FICE.

JAMES A. HAMER, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AND NOILLLIS MARIS, OF KIMBERTON, IIJNNSYLVANIA.

BRICK-IvIACI-INE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 25,467, dated September 13, 1859.

T o all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A. HAMER, of Reading, Berks county, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improved Brick-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of its construction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon, so as to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my machine.

Figure l of the drawings represents a perspective of my machine, the front plate S being taken off; Fig. 2, a. vert-ical, and Fig. 3, a` horizontal sect-ion through the clay box; Fig. 4, a perspective view of one of the brick molds; Fig. 5, a perspective view of the front plate S.

The clay to be made into bricks is introduced through the opening or trough B, into the box C. That portion of box C, which is immediately underneath t-he trough B, is semicylindric, while the front part of the box C, is slightly conical and is provided with a movable cover D, which can be set higher or lower by means of a set screw F, so as to enlarge or contract the space above the spiral K', leading into trough B. The object of this is to provide a ready and simple means for relieving the machine when the pressure is too great upon the clay in the molds. lhen the movable cover D, is down, the whole pressure of the spiral is brought to bear upon the clay to force it into the molds, but when the cover is raised, a portion of the clay is allowed to escape back into the trough B, and thus the pressure upon the clay is reduced. It will thus be seen that the operator can adjust t-he pressure upon the clay at pleasure.

There is an opening V, in the part of the main frame of the machine to which the clay box is fastened. This opening I, which is arranged between the clay box and the brick molds, is of a circular form on its inside so as to fit the end of the clay box and it is of rectangular shape where it joins the brickmolds, the width and height of the rectangle being the same as the width and height of the brick portion of the molds, as will be understood from Figs. 2 and 8.

The side Q, of the rectangular opening of the space W, by which the molds have to pass while they are being filled from the clay box, is hinged at R, R, as seen in Figs.

l and 3, and another piece P, is hinged to Q, b v means of a flexible band or connection O, as seen in Fig. 3. This band (Y, is fastened to Q, and extends into a vertical groove in the side of piece P. Pins N, pass through the rear of piece P, through vertical slots in the band, so as to hinge Q, and P, together and yet allow the latter to play up and down. A hole M, communicating with the vertical tube S, extends some distance down through the piece P, and opens into a slot 0, in the face of P. The tube S, is kept lled with water and the latter ooZes out through the opening of slot O, the width of which may be reduced as much as desired by inserting a strip of metal in said slot. A spring Q, presses the piece P, forward against the face of the molds as they pass by, and the faces of the pieces Q, and P, serve to smooth the inner faces of the brick molds while the water oozingout of slot O, keeps them moist. This smoothing process is still more assisted by the vertical reciprocating motion imparted to the piece P, bv means hereafter to be described.

The object of the double hinge above described, is to allow both smoothing faces to yield whenever little stones or gravel in the brick molds happen to pass by. In such cases the face of Q, will first be pressed backward while the piece P, is still held forward by its spring Q, and by the time the stone meets the face of P, the piece Q, will be allowed to spring forward so that at any time either one of the two smoothing faces will be in contact with they inner side of the the main frame A, of the machine, so that it may be drawn back and forth close by the opening WQ by means hereafter to be described.

When the machine is to be made ready for use the plate S', is screwed against the frame A, immediately in front of opening WV', the holes in plate S', fitting over the screwholes U, in the frame A. The frame C', and brick molds as they are drawn by the opening W', are in close contact with the smooth inner face of the plate S, so that the clay in the molds will be smoothed on one side by its contact with the faces Q, and P, as above set forth, and on the other side by its contact with the smooth face of plate S'. Each brick mold as it arrives at the ineline E', is pressed forward in front of frame A, in order that it may be seized by the operator and removed from the machine. The reciprocating motion of frame C', is so proportioned that after it has moved forward just far enough to bring the last mold across the opening W', it recedes the same distance when the operator inserts an empty mold between theend of frame C', and the mold in front of opening W', just mentioned. As the frame moves again forward the empty mold pushes the one which has been filled in the meantime forward and takes its place and so on. Thus the operation of the machine may be continued without any interruption.

The clay box C, contains a shaft L, the axis of which is in line with the center of the opening W'. The portion of the shaft which is underneath the trough B, is mounted with a series of blades I', arranged around the shaft in a spiral line. These blades work through the openings between the rods L', arranged across the clay box below the shaft L. Two or more of these rods nearest to the back of the machine may be made shorter (as seen in Fig. 3) so as to allow the clay to pass more freely from the trough B, down into the lower part of box C. The blades are intended to cut and work the clay. Horizontal valves J', are arranged on top of the rods L', and receive a reciprocating motion so that they gradually recede as the blades rise up through the openings between the rods. But as the knives or blades pass above the line of the valves they move forward and shut up the space between the side of the clay box and the shaft in order that the clay or portions of it shall be prevented from being worked up and raised from the lower part of box C. The front end of shaft L, is provided with a spiral K', of a diameter about equal to the diameter of the front part of box C. This spiral moves the clay forward into space W', and into the brick molds, pressing the whole mass into the molds and against the inner face of plate S'.

By turning crank B', motion is transmitted to shaft M, and by means of gearing N, U, A', V, to shafts L, Z, W. Shaft M, carries the disk K, which is provided with a number of cams T, which depress successively the rear end of a little lever I, the

front end of which takes into a recess in the rear part of piece P, so as to impart to the latter the vertical reciprocating motion above described. The shaft YV, has a crank X, at its front end which by means of a pitman Y, connected to the frame C', at D', imparts to said frame C', the horizontal reciprocating motion above mentioned. The shaft Z, is provided with arms F', one to each of the valves J'. These arms have friction rollers J, at their outer ends which work against frames G', extending downward from the valves J As these arms revolve together with the shaft, they will move the frames G', and valves J', back and forth as above described.

It will be understood that the gearing is so proportioned that the different functions of the various parts of the machine will be properly performed as above described.

If preferred, a stop cock or valve may be attached to the bottom of the vertical tube S, and so connected with the mechanism which operates the molds that the water will be shut off during the rest of the molds.

Fig. 6 represents a device which may be employed for pressing the piece Q, forward toward the brick molds and consists of a lever m, a, fulcrumed at Z, and weighted at z', so that its end m, may bear against the rear side of the piece Q.

Having described my improved brickmachine, what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, iszl.`The combination of the blades l", and rods L', with the valves J', and spiral K', constructed, arranged and operating in relation to each other substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the adjustable cover D, with the spiral K', and trough B, for the purpose of relieving or increasing the pressure upon the clay in the molds as set forth.

3. The combination of the hinged smoothing piece Q, with the hinged vertically reciprocating piece P, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. Providing the hinged smoothing piece P, with the slot O, and tube S, as and for the purposes set forth.

JAMES A. HAMER.

Witnesses:

A. Z. EMERY, JACOB EMERY. 

